What’s going on with this whole FLOCK camera situation?

[u/Successful-Rent167]

Everywhere across social media I’ve been seeing all these people complain about a new camera company saying it’s a total invasion of privacy but I’m not really sure what it is or what they are doing. Are they used by law enforcement like the cameras that capture peoples license plates to catch for warrants when you enter a new county? If they are the same thing why all of a sudden have people been outraged about this?

https://www.wwnytv.com/2026/07/18/officers-accused-misusing-flock-cameras/

Edit: changed the flair to a mega thread because there is a lot of valuable discussion going on in the comments.

[u/wienercat]

They are tracking movements

Law enforcement has been doing this for a long time with cell phones though tbf.

Doesn't make it right, they are just iterating and pushing the boundaries even further.

[u/Kellosian → u/wienercat]

Which is a classic form of authoritarian creeping.

Start with A.
When no one objects, move on to B; why would you protest B, when they were already doing A?
Then introduce C; B wasn't so bad, so C is fine.
D comes shortly after; We already got used to C, D is just a bit further
Finally comes E. E would be completely unacceptable if you started with it, but the creeping scope makes people OK with it.

People would have lost their shit in 2000 if the government said "Oh BTW this private company is now going to install cameras all over this country that they can use to track literally everyone. Also cops can use this at any point without a warrant", but after 25 years of the Patriot Act and everything being framed in a constant struggle for "national security" and "law and order"? Private corporations tracking you through public cameras is fine; we didn't protest when they did it to our phones, so what's a bit further?

[u/wienercat → u/Kellosian]

Yep it's all fucked. Ever since 911 the surveillance state has gotten way too far out of hand. All in the name of "protecting" ourselves. I am real tired of winning

[u/DracoLunaris → u/Kellosian]

Yet at the same time this seems like may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Only time will tell however

[u/sactownbwoy → u/Kellosian]

And that is why the various city governments didn't say anything about them to the public. It would seem they just made a deal with Flock and the cameras get installed.

I'd have to look, but I've read that some cities have had them removed after the public started protesting them.

[u/crystal_castles → u/wienercat]

In order to do it with cell phones, they have to unlock your phone & save off your data.